


won't know if we don't try

by gravitropism



Series: Grad Students!AU [2]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Graduate School, wow so self indulgent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-22 01:28:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9575825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gravitropism/pseuds/gravitropism
Summary: How Baekhyun and Chanyeol and Kyungsoo and Jongdae met.





	

**Author's Note:**

> This is the second part to a thing so go read the first one it's like 5k, if you don't this definitely won't make sense. V. dialogue heavy and I don't really think there's a plot? Idk it's just supposed to be cute. Title from Puppet - To Be Alive.

Cue sunshine and puffy clouds. Baekhyun is three, and it’s a little tough for him to understand the concept of moving houses (and why anyone would want to do that), but he thinks he’s got it down. Anyways, the boxes the new neighbors have are very big and very interesting. He’d like to play in one of those boxes.

“Baekhyunnie, the new neighbors have a kid just your age! Isn’t that lucky?” Baekhyun’s mother coos. Baekhyun will have to see this kid first, but he thinks that’s pretty neat.

The new neighbor kid pokes his head out from behind his mother’s legs. He’s taller than Baekhyun, but not by much, and he’s got big ears. Baekhyun would very much like to pull on those ears.

“Can you introduce yourself?” Baekhyun’s mother asks, and Baekhyun decides it’s worth a try if he gets to touch the new neighbor kid’s ears after.

“I’m Baekhyun!” he says boldly, hands on his hips, “You have big ears. Can I touch them?”

“I’m Chanyeol,” the new kid says, “They’re just big because I’m taller. Yeah, you can touch them.”

Baekhyun marches up to Chanyeol and gives both ears a quick tug. Satisfying. He nods. “We can be friends.”

“Cool!” Chanyeol beams, then grabs his hand. “I have a pet ferret. Want to see him?”

“Yeah!”

\--

It’s many years later, their sophomore year of high school. Chanyeol is sprawled out on Baekhyun’s bed, reading through his math textbook. Baekhyun is sitting at his desk, nervous. He’s never really been this nervous about talking to Chanyeol before, since the two of them have just clicked since the beginning. But this is sensitive, perhaps friendship-breaking stuff that he has to tell Chanyeol, and so he’s nervous.

“Hey... Chanyeol?” Damn, even his voice sounds nervous.

“Yeah?” Chanyeol asks absently, scratching his head with the end of his pencil. “Do you need help with your Chem homework?”

“Uh, no. Well, yes, but that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”

At this Chanyeol sits up. “Math homework, then?” His best friend’s face looks so innocent, so peaceful, and he really doesn’t want to wreck that.

“No. Um, see, it’s about who I like. Well, I don’t like anyone specifically, I just... I’m gay,” he ends up blurting out.

Chanyeol blinks. “Wait, seriously?”

Baekhyun winces. “Yeah?”

Chanyeol lets out a whoop. “Cool, ‘cause I am too! How did you figure it out? I figured it out because I have a crush on the dude student teacher for English! Which may or may not be why I’m doing so poorly, please help me.”

Baekhyun scrunches up his nose. That went better than expected. “I like watching the soccer players, and Jessica kissed me yesterday, and I thought it was kind of gross, which just drove the nail further into the coffin. Pretty gay.”

Chanyeol nods wisely. “That makes sense. I was going to tell you, but it was awkward, you know? How do you tell your best friend you like dicks?”

“Well, I just did it, so...” Figures Chanyeol would be chicken, he was the one who screamed the loudest when they went to haunted houses in October. Baekhyun is very serious about haunted houses. Well, at least until he gets inside.

Chanyeol’s eyes suddenly bulge, even more than usual. “Wait, we’re both gay, and we’re best friends, so does that mean we have to date now?”

Baekhyun hasn’t really thought that far. “Um no? I don’t think so. Besides, I love you, bro, but I’ve watched you take a shit way too many times for that.”

“Oh, good. I love you too, bro, but in the bro kind of way, you know? I was worried there for a second,” Chanyeol laughs, a hand on his chest. “This is good, though, because now we can talk to each other about crushes and shit. Like we’re girls at some sleepover, but we’re gay so we can do that?”

“You don’t have to be gay to do that,” Baekhyun says, joining in the laughter. “But you’re right, this is good. It’s like the two of us, against the world.”

Chanyeol grins. “I like the sound of that. Speaking of which, wanna take a break and play some Smash? I think we’ve earned it.”

“Hell yeah, bro, damn right we have.”

\--

Then comes their senior year of high school. Baekhyun and Chanyeol are sitting in the latter’s car, both with an unopened envelope in their hands.

“I can’t believe you made me wait,” Baekhyun groans, ready to get this over with, “My mom wanted to know if I got in or not, and I had to explain to her what you wanted to do.”

“This is important, okay,” Chanyeol insists, “If we’re going to go to the same college, I think we should know at the same time.”

Baekhyun rubs over his face with a palm. “Chanyeol, it literally says ‘yes’ on the envelope. If we were rejected, they’d probably just send something plain and inexpensive.” Their letters were in brightly colored envelopes emblazoned with the school’s logo and some aesthetic confetti.

Chanyeol shrugs. “Still, I think it would be meaningful if we did it together. Like, a happy memory for when we’re 80 and telling our grandkids our life stories.”

“All I’m going to remember is what a nerd you were,” Baekhyun grumbles, “Let’s just do it.” He moves to open the envelope, but Chanyeol’s hand stops him.

“On a count of three? Please?” he begs. 

Baekhyun gives in. “Fine. I’ll count. One, two, three, open.”

The two scramble to open the envelopes. Baekhyun unfolds the thick sheets of paper within. “Yup, I got in.”

“Me too!” Chanyeol shouts, waving the sheet in Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun laughs, delighted. They had been best friends for over ten years, and there was no stopping them now.

“What are the other sheets of paper?” Baekhyun says, flipping through the packet. “Wait, I got a scholarship. What about you?”

Chanyeol flips through his own packet, listing the titles as he looks. “Orientation information, visits, ah, here. Yeah, I got one too! Sweet, my mom’s gonna be thrilled.”

Baekhyun looks over at Chanyeol, who looks back at him. They both break into simultaneous grins, and Chanyeol holds up a hand.

“High five, because we’re going places, buddy.”

Baekhyun gives it to him. “Hell yeah we are, bro.”

\--

Skip forward to their junior year of college. They’re in their shared apartment, and Chanyeol is slurping up some ramen as he furiously writes, trying to finish his physics homework so they can game together. Baekhyun has a book in his hands that he’s supposed to finish for Friday, but that can wait.

“Hey, Chanyeol?”

“Hmm?” Chanyeol pauses mid-bite, furious scribbling halted. He chews, swallows, and sets down his chopsticks. “Did you break up with Sunggyeol?”

Baekhyun laughs. “No, nothing like that. I know we’ve talked about this before, but. What are we going to do when we graduate?”

Chanyeol runs a hand through his dyed-brown hair. “I want to do research, so naturally I should probably go to grad school?”

“Yeah, I was thinking about something like that,” Baekhyun says, nodding slowly, “Seeing as my employment prospects in history aren’t exactly promising if I don’t continue?”

“Same here, honestly. And as much as I like kids, I don’t want to be a teacher,” Chanyeol laughs. 

Baekhyun smiles ruefully along with him. “The question is, where does this put us?” he says, gesturing in between the two of them. “Are we going to have to go our separate ways, or...?”

Chanyeol leans back in his chair, crossing his arms thoughtfully. “I’m sure there’s a university somewhere that has both a good physics department and history department.” He thumps the table. “I’m not giving up on our best friendship yet. We’re not going down without a struggle.”

Baekhyun grins. “Sounds good to me. We better start looking, huh?”

Chanyeol nods furiously. “Hell yeah. We got this, bro.” He sets his pencil down. “I’m done, by the way.”

Baekhyun’s grin only gets bigger. “Smash?”

“Smash.”

\--

Kyungsoo posts an ad for a roommate. He’s set to move to the university in a few months, and he doesn’t know anyone there. The place he’s found is ideal, but the rent is expensive for only one person, and the apartment is clearly meant for two people. So he’s looking for a roommate.

Kyungsoo... well, he’s a little picky. He isn’t going to room with some slob, and has no desire to deal with someone obnoxious. Ideally, he’d like to room with someone also doing history, but he’ll take whatever he can find.

He gets about five replies, and emails a few of them back. They talk, but Kyungsoo isn’t particularly attracted to living with any of them. When he skypes one guy who seemed nice, he sees a messy room in the background, which simply will not do, so he ends the call. 

Another guy who had sent him an email mentions that he has a girlfriend, and asks if the two of them having loud sex on a daily basis would be an issue. Kyungsoo replies with a yes, that would indeed be an issue, and cuts contact.

He replies to a third message from some older guy, which would have been fine with Kyungsoo if the guy hadn’t started asking strangely personal questions about his life. Kyungsoo cuts contact with this guy, too.

The fourth message he gets is from another grad student like him. He’s American-born Korean (like Kyungsoo!), and studying math (unlike Kyungsoo, but he can let that slide. It was a long shot, anyway). He seems nice, so Kyungsoo agrees to skype.

His name is Jongdae, and he really is nice. Perhaps a little on the loud side, but when Kyungsoo asks about any significant others, Jongdae laughs and says he broke up with his boyfriend three months ago. He then asks if it’s a problem that he’s gay, and Kyungsoo lets out a chuckle and tells Jongdae that he’s gay, too.

Jongdae then laughs even louder than before, and proceeds the flirt with him the best he can over skype. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes and calls him out, causing more snickering on Jongdae’s side. He tells Jongdae why he isn’t his type, but says he thinks they would do well together as roommates.

Agreeing, Jongdae adds that he’s neat in general, the exception being when he has approaching deadlines. This is acceptable. Kyungsoo likes him.

So they set up an agreement, sign the online documents necessary for their lease, and plan their move over the course of the next two months. Kyungsoo is satisfied.

\--

Baekhyun and Chanyeol are moving their stuff from the trunk into their apartment on the second floor when they spot two guys walking up the stairs, arms laden with grocery bags.

One of the pair calls out to Baekhyun, who’s struggling to carry a lamp and a box at the same time. “Need some help there?”

Baekhyun chuckles, and sets the lamp and box down. “I got this one, actually.” He digs the keys the landlord gave them out of his pocket, and unlocks their new apartment door, number 216. The two guys stop at the door next to his, and the one with big eyes and thick eyebrows unlocks it.

The other guy, a curl to the ends of his lips, grins. “Hey, that means you’re our new neighbors. We moved in yesterday, actually. I’m Jongdae, and that’s Kyungsoo going to put the groceries away.”

At this moment, Chanyeol comes bounding up the stairs, a box in his hands. “Baek, we have until six pm tonight to finish or we gotta rent the truck for another day—Oh, hi, I’m Chanyeol.”

Kyungsoo comes back out, and leans against the door frame. Baekhyun grins at him, getting a small smile back.

“And I’m Baekhyun. Chanyeol, this is Jongdae and Kyungsoo, apparently we’re neighbors now.”

Chanyeol nods. “Nice to meet you guys. Baek and I are both grad students at the university, how about you?”

Jongdae perks up. “So are we, actually. I do math, and Kyungsoo does history.”

“I do history!” Baekhyun exclaims, thrilled. He’d have someone to commiserate with. “And Chanyeol does physics. Something with lasers, I think.”

“Something with lasers is a good way to describe it,” Chanyeol laughs, smacking Baekhyun on the back before tossing an arm over his shoulders. “Also, um, I’d love to talk for a few hours, but we have to get our truck unloaded as soon as possible.”

Jongdae exchanges a look with Kyungsoo, who shrugs and then straightens from his position against the doorframe. “We’re not doing anything today, we could help you move,” Kyungsoo says, looking vaguely uncertain.

“As long as you buy us pizza afterwards,” Jongdae adds, grinning.

Baekhyun lifts an eyebrow. “Sounds like a deal to me. Let’s get to work, shall we?”

The four of them set off back downstairs, proceeding to unload the truck and carry up whatever they could manage.

At one point, Baekhyun found himself climbing the stairs with a couple of boxes and Kyungsoo. 

“So, um, sorry if this is a strange question,” Kyungsoo begins, shifting the box he’s carrying, “But are you and Chanyeol together, as in dating? You seem really close.”

Baekhyun laughs. “No, we thought about it in high school, but decided not to. We’re best friends who just happen to both be gay. It’s funny, because if you’ve got one, you’ve probably got another. Like magnets, or some shit.”

At this Kyungsoo lets out a chuckle. “I feel that, and it’s funny, because you’ll never guess...”

Baekhyun stops in the middle of the hall. “Don’t tell me you are, too?” What are the odds, seriously?

“Both Jongdae and I are gay. So yeah, magnets.”

Shaking his head, Baekhyun nudges their door open with his foot, and sets his box down. “That’s so fucking weird, man. All four of us, then? Wow.”

Kyungsoo sets his own box down, and dusts his hands. “Incredible, really,” he says with a heart-shaped smile. Baekhyun is mildly attracted to that smile (later the truth comes to light, that Kyungsoo’s really some sort of demon risen from hell, but Baekhyun is still allowed to appreciate cute, right?).

They continue the work until about five, and Chanyeol takes the truck back in time. Baekhyun orders pizza, and runs down to a nearby convenience store for some canned beer as a bonus. The four of them end up lying on Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s floor, surrounded by boxes, a little tipsy, and full of pizza.

“I never want to move again,” Chanyeol moans, clutching his stomach, “Can I just nap here?”

Baekhyun smacks the floor in his general direction, too tired to actually get up and hit him. “No, that’d be bad for your back. Shit, we still have to make the beds.”

“I can help with that, if you’d like,” Kyungsoo says in his quiet voice. “You did get us beer, too.”

Lifting a fist in the air, Baekhyun lets out a whoop. “Great, now we just have to find the sheets.”

Chanyeol groans, but Jongdae laughs.

“Good luck.”

**Author's Note:**

> Wow thanks for reading lol next part to this will be out in less than a month, it's already written but not edited.


End file.
